All Saints' Day: STA edges Coe-Brown to make final

Friday

Nov 2, 2012 at 3:15 AMNov 3, 2012 at 10:21 AM

By JOHN DOYLEjdoyle@fosters.com

DERRY — The St. Thomas Aquinas High School volleyball team hadn't lost a set all year, but found itself going into a fifth and deciding set against Coe-Brown Thursday night in the Division II semifinals.

Time to panic, right?

“A little bit, I mean, obviously, yeah,” said St. Thomas senior Cecelia Chrisom, with a laugh. “That was stressful.”

If the Saints were feeling any stress in the fifth game, it didn't show, as St. Thomas was in control the whole way to win 15-3 at Pinkerton Academy. The Saints clinched the match 3-2 and earned a berth in the final for the second straight year.

“Coe-Brown, they played one heck of a match,” St. Thomas coach Kristie Holtz said. “I really couldn't be prouder of how hard we fought in all five games. We're not always a high-energy team, but we just went for it in the fifth game. It was all or nothing.”

The top-seeded Saints (19-0) will face No. 2 Gilford (18-1), which beat St. Thomas in last year's final, Saturday night at 7. The Golden Eagles were a straight-set winner over No. 6 Oyster River (12-7) in the first semifinal.

Coe-Brown rallied to win the first game 28-26, becoming the first team all season to do so against St. Thomas. The Saints held on for 25-17 and 25-19 wins in the next two sets, before the Bears rebounded and took the fourth 25-22.

“We beat them twice and they hadn't lost a game all year,” Coe-Brown coach Rick Veno said. “It's hard to say what happened in the fifth game. We had the momentum going our way, and all of a sudden they got in our heads I guess. They made some good plays.”

Maria Chrisom served up back-to-back aces to give St. Thomas a 4-1 lead in the fifth game, and it was all Saints from there. Cecilia Chrisom came up with three of her 23 kills down the stretch, Ku'uipo Hoover served up a timely ace to make it 10-3, and the Saints finally were able to celebrate after Coe-Brown sent a ball into the net.

“We were all kind of stressed and worried,” Hoover said. “But we knew we could pull through as a team as long as we worked together.”

It was a disappointing end to a great season for Coe-Brown (13-6). Senior outside hitter Liz Peabody was the undisputed star of the night for the Bears, as she sent 21 kills over the net, all of which whipped her teammates into a frenzy.

“Normally when we play St. Thomas, we're mentally defeated before we even walk in the gym,” Peabody said. “We reassured ourselves before the match even started that we can definitely play with them. Tonight, I couldn't have been any happier with the way my team played.”

In addition to Peabody, statistical leaders for Coe-Brown included Sadie Steffen with 43 assists and a 22-for-22 serving rate, and Deb Peabody with 22 digs.

St. Thomas led 22-16 in the first game before Coe-Brown began to rally. Peabody had four kills during that stretch, and an Abigail Ahern block clinched it for the Bears.

“We just couldn't finish,” Cecilia Chrisom said. “Our serving definitely wasn't as tough. We usually have a little bit of a cushion, but we weren't holding serve and that was definitely a big part of it.”

On the receiving end of most of Peabody's thunderous kill attempts was Mastrobattista, who finished with 29 digs, including the 500th of her career.

“Every time she would go up, I'd take a deep breath,” Mastrobattista said about facing Liz Peabody. “Then after I passed it, I'd exhale.”

The Saints found themselves again leading 22-16 in the next two games, and each time were able to close it out with relative ease.

Coe-Brown broke an 11-11 tie in the fourth game with an 8-4 run and never trailed thereafter. Ahern made it 24-21 with a tip following a fierce battle at the net, and the Saints couldn't handle the final kill as Coe-Brown forced the deciding game.

“Not once did we think we were going to let this one go,” Cecilia Chrisom said. “We just kept going. And that's what you have to do.”